Paper Skin
by Moonbeam-987
Summary: AU: "Living in a world where you have to wear your biggest insecurity tattooed on your forearm, you always feel like everyone is staring at it, thinking of ways to use it against you. No hiding it, no covering it up. It is forever there, reminding you what you hate most about yourself. Only if you are lucky do you find someone who finds beauty in the words engraved on your skin."


A/N: I'm baaaaack!:) I finally graduated last Friday and now I have time to write again! And here is a new story to celebrate! It is AU and I hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer (for the whole story): I own absolutely nothing!

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_Rule 1: When one becomes of age, they must get their blemish._

_The pain is what you remember the most. Not necessarily the physical pain, but the emotional._

_Tears stream down your face as your biggest insecurity is pried out of you by complete strangers. The buzzing of the machine that is going to brand you for life echoes in your ten-year-old ears and the noise drowns out your hysterical sobbing. As the ink is being engraved into your skin you try to think of a way to hide it from society, but you know that if you actually attempt to hide it, you will be punished._

_Rule 2: If one decides to hide their blemish, they will be punished accordingly._

_I have seen it before; someone being punished for covering their blemish. It was a young woman. Her hair looked like gold and she held her head high as she walked down the street, her blemish completely covered by her sweater. I stared in awe like most of the others around me, captivated by the fact that she had enough guts to walk around in public with her forearm concealed._

_They came out of nowhere. People call them Speculators. It is their job to enforce and monitor the blemishes; to make sure that you get yours when you become of age and that they are never covered up. They are police on steroids. Big men and women dressed in all black leather with big, black, biker-like helmets walk among the civilians, keeping an eye out for those who break the rules._

_Rule 3: If someone is being punished, all must watch to enforce Rules 1 and 2._

_The woman didn't see them. It reminded me of a steak of tigers attacking their prey. There was blood everywhere and her screams filled the street as everyone turned to watch. I wanted to look away, but in these situations one is not supposed to; you must watch others be punished or you will be punished yourself. When they were done, the Speculators lifted the woman's limp body off of the ground and carried her off to a place unknown. Since that day I have always made sure that my forearm is uncovered._

_Living in a world where you have to wear your biggest insecurity tattooed on your forearm, you always feel like everyone is staring at it, thinking of ways to use it against you. No hiding it, no covering it up. It is forever there, reminding you what you hate most about yourself. Only if you are lucky do you find someone who finds beauty in the words engraved on your skin._

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Laying in his bed, James stared up at the ceiling contemplating on whether to go to school or not. He could easily just say that he didn't want to go and his mom would let him stay home and would put him to work around the house. Usually he would be all for that, but since his parents decided to take a little break, James wanted to stay as far away from his emotional mother as he could.

Sighing, he sat up and swung his legs off the bed as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. After standing up, James made his way to the bathroom that's connected to his bedroom and paused in front of the full-length mirror. His eyes easily scanned past the awful bed-head and went straight to his blemish.

_I am ugly._

Closing his eyes against the truth, James moved himself away from the mirror and busied himself with getting ready for the day. After taking about an hour in the bathroom James decided he was presentable enough for the day. With every hair in place, his designer clothes, and his teeth sparkling bright, James hoped that the truth of his blemish would be cancelled out. Taking one more look in the mirror, James smiled at himself and then left his room.

Not bothering with breakfast or telling his mother goodbye, James made his way quickly to the garage and got into his car. As he pulled out of the driveway, he could see his mother standing at the window waving at him, but he didn't respond as he turned out onto the road.

Pulling up into the school parking lot, James' eyes scanned the grounds for Logan and Carlos. He soon found Logan's car and pulled up beside him to find Logan and Carlos sitting in the car happily chatting before the bell rang. Hopping out, James made his way around to the front of his car where the two shorter boys met him.

"Hey, want a donut?" Carlos asked as he bounded over to James with a box of donuts in his hands.

"No thanks, Los. I'm good."

"Are you sure? Logan even had one!"

"Yeah, because you practically shoved it down my throat!" Logan chuckled and then leaned over to James and whispered, "He's had about ten of those."

James nodded his head in understanding as he watched Carlos bounce around in front of him.

"Come on, James! Eat one!" The shortest boy yelped before losing his footing mid bounce and tumbled into James, smashing the donut box into the taller boy's chest.

"Dammit Carlos! What the hell is wrong with you?" James yelled as he assessed the damage that was done to his shirt.

"I-I'm sorry James... I-I didn't mean t-to." Carlos stuttered as tears welled up in his eyes.

James didn't respond as he continued to make sure that there were no glazed crumbs on his designer shirt. He didn't even notice that Carlos started to full on cry as Logan gave him a stern look.

"James," Logan finally hissed, "apologize!"

James looked up from his chest to find Carlos huddled up in Logan's arms, practically sobbing. Rolling his eyes, the tallest boy rested a hand on Carlos' shoulder, prying him away from the other boy so he could look at him.

"I'm sorry, Los. I didn't mean it."

"Really?" Carlos sniffled, wiping at his eyes.

"Yeah," James replied with little to no enthusiasm.

Carlos' face brightened up automatically before he jumped on James, hugging him tightly. James really wanted to tell him to get off, but the look Logan gave him actually had him wrapping his arms around the shorter boy. As he let go and Carlos stepped away, James' eyes focused on Carlos' forearm.

_I'm too emotional_.

Since the moment he met Carlos and Logan, James knew their insecurities. Carlos' is that he's too emotional and Logan's reads_ I will never be smart enough._ Whenever he met someone new he would always look at their arms. When asked about it, James would always just say he was curious, but deep down he hoped that he would someday find someone's blemish that would make his hurt less.

The sound of the bell ringing sent the three boys shuffling into the school with the other students who were in the parking lot.

Walking through the hallways, James could see everyone's blemishes. As people passed him, James read random ones; _I'm too fat_, _I am a loser_, _My lips are too big... _They all seemed pretty generic to him and they didn't make him feel any better about his own blemish.

An arm waving in the air above the crowd of students brought James out of his thoughts and the three boys walked towards the girl it belonged to.

"Hey guys!" Carlos shouted as he ran over to their group. Camille, Jo, Dak, and Jett all said their hello's in response.

Everyone settled into easy conversation about what they did over the weekend, savoring the last few minutes they had before the tardy bell rang. James, however, did not join in on the conversation as he zoned out. He was usually all for talking to his friends and making sure that he was the center of their attention, but today there was something off about him for some reason. He stayed zoned out until Jett leaned into his side to whisper something to him.

"Who's the new kid with the bushy eyebrows?"

James turned to look in the general direction Jett was pointing in, and automatically found the person he was talking about. Standing at the front office window was a boy about his age. He's somewhat muscle-y with shaggy blonde hair and big eye brows adorned his face. As he talked to the office ladies, he smiled and the cutest dimples appeared on his cheeks. And he must have felt someone staring at him, because he turned and looked James straight in the eye. Emerald eyes stared back at him, James' automatic response was to give him the _James Diamond smile_, and it worked like a charm. The blonde smiled back, his cheeks turning light pink before he gave a small wave. With the position that his arm was at, James could read his blemish perfectly. His face fell as he read the words over and over again in his head, surprised by the fact that this boy's blemish was worse than his own.

_I'll never be loved._

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A/N: It is a little slow at first, but trust me, it gets better! Review and let me know what you think!:)


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